1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a dental tray assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dental tray assembly for the temporary storage of oral prosthetics by dental practitioners.
2. Related Art
Dental practitioners often apply oral prosthetics to dental patients to enhance the appearance of, repair damage to, or replace natural tooth structure. Dental prosthetics can be categorized into two primary types: permanent prosthetics, which are designed to remain on the tooth structure; and removable prosthetics, which can be removed and subsequently replaced by the patient. Removable prosthetics include devices such as dentures, retainers, etc. Examples of permanent oral prosthetics include dental crowns, caps, bridges, orthodontics, etc. In the case where oral prosthetics are applied permanently, the prosthetic is generally bonded or adhered onto or over the tooth structure being treated to ensure that the prosthetic does not become dislodged from the tooth structure over time. For example, dental crowns are generally bonded over a tooth that has been reduced in size prior to application of the crown to thereby give the appearance that the crown is the original tooth. The crown is generally bonded to the tooth structure in order to withstand the forces applied to the crown when the patient eats, flosses, drinks, chews gum, etc.
Because many oral prosthetics must be customized to accurately fit on or over the tooth structure being treated, the prosthetics are generally fabricated by a laboratory, often located off-site of the dental offices where the patient is treated. Thus, the prosthetic is often shipped from the lab to the dental office, where the dental practitioner must identify which patient the prosthetic is for and on which tooth or in which area of the mouth the prosthetic will be attached. Because of the small nature and aesthetic qualities of dental prosthetics, marking identification information directly on the prosthetics is generally not done. Instead, the prosthetic is generally only identified by the package in which the prosthetic is being transported or stored. This makes identification of oral prosthetics difficult without carefully maintaining each prosthetic in its particular package.
In addition to the problems inherent in tracking the identity of oral prosthetics, problems also arise during application of oral prosthetics due to the adhesive that is generally applied to the prosthetic prior to attaching or bonding the prosthetic to the tooth structure. In some applications, the prosthetic is prepared concurrently with preparation of the tooth structure onto or over which the prosthetic is to be applied. In one exemplary scenario, the dental practitioner will first prepare the prosthetic for bonding by applying an adhesive to the prosthetic and then set the “wet” prosthetic aside while the tooth structure is prepared. Once preparation of the tooth structure is complete, the wet prosthetic can be retrieved and placed onto the tooth structure and the bonding process can be finalized. As the adhesive material on the prosthetic must be kept clean from contaminates, placing the wet prosthetic aside can be problematic in that the adhesive may become contaminated while the prosthetic is set aside. Also, excess adhesive may fall or drip from the prosthetic and contaminate otherwise clean surfaces in the dental office.
In addition, many of the adhesives used to bond oral prosthetics are permanently cured by intentionally exposing the adhesive to an ultraviolet (“UV”) or other light source once the prosthetic is in place on the tooth structure. If the “wet” prosthetic is allowed to sit for too long in an environment in which it is exposed to natural or artificial light, the adhesive may begin curing prematurely due to the UV content of the natural or artificial light. This can result in a poor bond being formed between the prosthetic and the tooth structure, as the adhesive is partially cured prior to being placed in contact with the tooth structure.
The problems discussed above are further exacerbated when multiple prosthetics are to be applied to a patient in a single visit or sitting. For instance, maintaining identification of an oral prosthetic becomes even more difficult when multiple prosthetics are to be applied to a particular patient at one sitting, as the prosthetics may appear very similar to each but will only correctly fit the particular tooth for which they were tailored. Thus, when multiple prosthetics are to be applied, multiple containers must often be used to aid in tracking the identity of each prosthetic prior to applying the prosthetic to the appropriate tooth structure.
In addition, the most efficient manner to apply multiple prosthetics at one sitting is to prepare all of the prosthetics for bonding (i.e., apply adhesive to the prosthetics), prepare all of the tooth structures to be treated, and then sequentially apply and bond each prosthetic in its appropriate location. However, by doing so, the dental practitioner risks losing track of which of the prosthetics correspond to which tooth, risks contaminating the adhesive, and risks inadvertently beginning the cure of the adhesive by prematurely exposing the adhesive to natural or artificial UV sources. Due to such risks, multiple prosthetics are often prepared and applied one at a time, which results in a great loss of efficiency in the overall process.